


All it Takes is a Leap of Faith

by wootar519



Category: Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:47:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28325571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wootar519/pseuds/wootar519
Summary: Raelle likes Scylla and Scylla likes Raelle - but their inability to tell each other that leads to them each trying to win one another over during the holiday season
Relationships: Raelle Collar/Scylla Ramshorn
Comments: 7
Kudos: 81





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays everyone! This is a Christmas present for PvtSnail. It will be Raylla, it'll be multi-chaptered, and with any luck it'll be absolutely adorable. It is still within the MFS world (e.g. they're still witches) except conscription is not a thing; there's still some level of separation between civilians and witches but not in the same way as in the show. Enjoy!

Raelle clicked the door open, wincing as the screech of the old hinges alerted the occupants of the room to her late arrival. She offered a sheepish smile to the Herbology professor before sliding into the last seat on the row closest to her, rolling her eyes as her usual desk mate chuckled silently at her being late. Raelle immediately pulled out her notebook, taking notes of what the teacher wrote on the board while also doodling in the margins of the page, biding time until the class was over.   
  
It was her first semester at the Salem College for Witches, she was studying to be a fixer just like her mom, the current Herbology class was a necessary credit for all students to take during their time at the school and she opted to take it first to get it over with. Raelle lived in on campus housing with her assigned roommates. Tally was incredibly kind, almost weirdly so, so she and Abigail had gotten better with one another but still butted heads from time to time. She wasn’t quite used to the Massachusetts winter yet, but after Tally brought her out to get a new coat she at least found the cold manageable.   
  
She breathed a sigh of relief when it finally was, grabbing her backpack and putting it onto the desk so she could put away her belongings and grab her phone.   
  
“You’re going to be late for your own funeral one day.”   
  
The smooth voice broke Raelle from her gaze, lifting her eyes to meet the ocean blue ones of Scylla Ramshorn, the girl she had met at the beginning of the semester the first time she arrived late and had been crushing on ever since. Raelle fought off blushing at the light teasing, clearing her throat as they both gathered their things. “Well it is my funeral so people should know to wait for me.” She retorted, feeling elated at the smile that Scylla gave her in return. She would consider herself lucky if she got to spend her whole life looking at that smile.   
  
“Any plans for the holidays?” Raelle questioned as they made their way to the door, Raelle holding the door open for Scylla as they left the class and made their way out of the building.   
  
“Going home to see my family for the holidays, that's about it. I think my moms are looking forward to me being home, they think I study too much.” She laughed, which perhaps they were true, but there was a reason Scylla was at the top of all her classes; Yule break was always wonderful because it meant no worry about exams or tests since the semester was over. Raelle was one of the few people who knew Scylla was adopted, and she had always appreciated that the blonde didn’t mention it more than was necessary; she’d never been invasive about it, something for which Scylla was eternally grateful.   
  
Raelle nodded in understanding. “Yeah same for me, my dad keeps texting me whenever my mom buys me something new for Yule, I think she’s just been missing me since I’ve never been away from home for this long before.” She explained. “If only I could get my dad to stop asking when I’m bringing a girl home.”   
  
“You too?” Scylla asked, her tone was mostly sarcastic but it was also a bit of surprise. “My moms don’t necessarily need me to be serious with someone, I think they just want to know I have some sort of life outside school.” Scylla explained as she gave Raelle a thankful smile when she had held the door open for her.   
  
They went after each class they had together, the small hole in the wall was a favourite spot among lost university students who were willing to brave the wind to walk the distance to get to it. They had started coming here together about two weeks into the semester, Scylla having invited Raelle with the offer to help go over what she missed due to being late. If Scylla were being honest with herself, she really just wanted to spend more time with the bright eyed blonde, but she tried not to think too much about that.   
  
“My dad isn’t weird about it, he just wants me to be happy, and he’s met Tally before and thought she was really nice so he keeps asking when I’m going to be dating someone that nice.” She laughed as they sat at their usual table, hanging up their coats on the provided hook.   
  
Scylla laughed gently at her friend's words. “Well he may be waiting a long time, I’m not sure anyone is as nice as Tally. He’s going to have to settle for close enough in that regard I think.” She noted as they sat down at the table, the barista bringing them their usuals without them having to actually order. They always got the same thing; mocha for Raelle, with extra chocolate sauce, and a green tea for Scylla; she insisted it was just as caffeinated as coffee but Raelle was a firm believer in a sugar boost after a long day of classes.   
  
“I don’t know Scyl; I think you’re incredibly nice.” Raelle retorted.   
  
“Is that your way of saying you want to date me?” The question was a playful one, Scylla purposefully teasing Raelle with just a hint of genuine curiosity about whether or not the blonde was remotely interested in her.  
  
Raelle felt her cheeks go red, sputtering for a few seconds as she tried to kick her brain back into gear in order to form a proper response. In a move she would later come to question heavily she met Scylla’s gaze and shrugged slightly. “What if it were?”  
  
She held her breath as Scylla’s eyes widened in surprise, rather surprised that she had seemingly caught the other girl off guard. It was almost an impressive feat as the girl across from her was always collected. Raelle could practically see the gears turning in Scylla’s head, and as the silence dragged on for more than a handful of seconds Raelle let out a full body laugh. “Scylla I’m just kidding.” She assured as she kept laughing, becoming a little less worried as she saw Scylla relax and chuckle with her. “I’m just pulling your chain; it’s not like I’d expect you to come home with me for the holidays.” She assured keeping her tone as light and playful as she could manage in a desperate attempt to ignore the dread she felt at what she perceived to be a pretty obvious rejection.   
  
“What if I did though?” Scylla asked suddenly.   
  
Raelle’s laugh trailed off awkwardly, her tone becoming one of confusion. “What?”  
  
“I’m not suggesting we actually start dating but what if I did come home with you for the holidays, and you came home with me. We could finally get our parents off our back.” Scylla didn’t think through the offer and how ludicrous it sounded.  
  
“So you want to pretend to date so we can get our parents off our back about why we’re both still single?” Raelle questions, asking for clarification to the seemingly insane proposition.   
  
“Exactly,” Scylla confirmed with a hopeful smile “so what do you say?” Scylla knew it was a somewhat insane idea, she just hoped if she could spend those extra days alone with Raelle she might very well get the nerve to make up for the colossal mishap she just endured by not having a response to Raelle’s question. To tell her that she didn’t want any fake relationship with her, only a real one.  
  
Raelle wrung her hands under the table before nodding a few times. “You know what, that sounds like it may just work. Besides, anything to get our parents off our backs right?” Raelle offered.   
  
“Good! Okay that’s good yeah, we can figure out details before next class.” Scylla added, realizing she sounded a little too enthusiastic about none of this being ‘real’.   
  
Raelle hoped Scylla couldn’t tell the tightness of the smile she offered as she drank the rest of her mocha. “I have an exam tomorrow so I have to go study for that but I’ll text you later.” She spoke as she stood, not really waiting for a response as she gathered her coat and her book bag.   
  
“Yeah for sure,” Scylla responded, as bright as she could “I’ll email you the notes.” She offered, hoping the offer would be enough of an olive branch.   
  
“Yeah thanks.” Raelle replied before taking enough money for both their drinks from her pocket and leaving it on the table. Her return home was completely automated, she didn’t notice a single thing and was barely even realizing she was home even when she was kicking off her boots.   
  
“Shitbird why do you look like someone ran over your puppy?” Abigail’s voice flowed through the apartment to reach Raelle, causing her to sigh as she glanced up at the tall brunette, noticing Tally had tilted her head to the side to be able to look at Raelle from where she was sitting at her desk doing homework.   
  
“I asked Scylla out-“  
  
“Oh my goddess finally!”  
  
“I knew you could do it!”  
  
The overlapping praise from her friends caused Raelle to sigh dejectedly and drop her bag. “She said no.”  
  
“What?” Abigail questioned, Tally having been stunned into silence. “Scylla said no to you asking her on a date?”  
  
“Well I guess not exactly I-“  
  
“Well which one is it? Either you asked her on a date and she said no or she didn’t.” Abigail reminded; she loved Raelle, she really did. Their bumpy start was quickly smoothed over by Tally’s bubbly personality, though sometimes they still butted heads.   
  
“Abigail let Raelle talk,” Tally insisted with a slightly pleading tone. She didn’t want the two of them starting another fight. “Raelle, walk us through what happened, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think.” She requested.   
  
Raelle explained the conversation she had had with Scylla, ending with her agreeing to the suggestion from her classmate that they pretend to date over the holidays. “She’s not actually interested in me, just as a way to get her parents to stop asking questions.”  
  
“Maybe you can make this work for you, maybe you can spend this time winning her over.” Tally suggested. “It’s your very own fake dating AU! Those always end well.”   
  
“It’s a what?” Raelle asked, perplexed.   
  
Abigail rolled her eyes and laughed “Tally’s talking about those stories she’s always reading, they’re fiction Tal, those things don’t happen in real life.”  
  
“But they could!” Tally stressed, her smile bright at the prospect. “All Raelle has to do is use this time to wine Scylla over, be the perfect gentlewoman and I’m sure Scylla will fall in love with her.”   
  
Raelle stared at Tally and scoffed. “She’s not going to fall in love with me.”  
  
“You don’t know that,” Tally stressed to her, “in any event, you have to make sure you pack some cute stuff if you’re going to be meeting her parents and spending time with her.”  
  
Raelle sighed heavily. “I have an exam tomorrow, can I study for that instead?” She requested, not feeling particularly in the mood to have Tally get over excited about what she seems to have agreed to with Scylla.   
  
“Don’t worry shitbird, we’ll figure it out. You’ll get the girl, she’d be crazy to say no to you.” Abigail hoped her words were encouraging but nonetheless sent a concerned glance in Tally’s direction when Raelle went to study.   
  
——  
  
Across town at her own apartment, Scylla kicked off her shoes, leaving them haphazardly in the hall before opening the door, groaning when she heard the TV playing. “I don’t remember you paying rent.” She observed as she took in the sight of her friend Byron sitting in front of the TV with a bag of chips.   
  
“Your TV is better.” He acknowledged simply as he glanced over at her. “Besides once I get here I don’t want to travel all the way home.”   
  
Scylla rolled her eyes and sat next to him on the couch. “By ‘all the way home’ do you mean up one floor?”   
  
“Going upstairs is way harder than coming down. Some days I don’t think I can make it all the way up.” He spoke snarkily. Byron was always a bit of a shit, but Scylla loved him anyway, they had known each other since high school and ended up moving into the same building by coincidence once they had both moved to Salem for college.   
  
Scylla sighed gently as she reached for the bag of chips, taking a handful when Byron offered it to her. “So how is your blonde goddess?” Byron questioned, he had known about her feelings for Raelle the second they had started to develop, he wasn’t ever mean about it; only supportive and he wanted to help his friend.   
  
Regardless, Scylla let out a sigh at the question munching on the potato chips she had taken. “I think I screwed up, I just panicked and now I’m bringing her home for Yule and I have made everything a colossal mess.”  
  
“Wait you’re bringing her home for Yule? How is that screwing up - that sounds like you managed to tell her how you feel.”  
  
Scylla winced at the memory. “I didn't exactly ask her, I- I don’t know. She made some comment about wanting to date me and I panicked and I didn’t say yes, and then she said she was only joking and that she wouldn’t ask me to date her.” The frown was fairly prominent on her face, she felt like her heart was aching at Raelle’s apparent rejection. “I then said that since her parents are bothering her about having a girlfriend and mine are on me about having a social life we could go home together and tell our parents we were dating.”  
  
Byron had wide eyes as he stared at her, clearing processing the plethora of information he had received. “Okay well you can work with this; maybe she doesn’t want to date you now but that doesn’t mean she won’t after this trip. You just have to make her realize why she should want to date you.”  
  
Scylla huffed gently before nodding slightly in agreement. “Yeah I guess so.” She felt like a fumbling idiot. “Why is it so hard to tell a girl I like her?” She asked rhetorically, leaning back against the couch in defeat - she really was angry with herself.   
  
“Don’t worry you’ll get there,” Byron assured her “and when you do I will plan the most fabulous wedding imaginable.”   
  
Scylla rolled her eyes playfully but leaned against Byron’s shoulder. “Thanks,” she spoke softly, turning her view to whatever was playing on the screen though not really paying attention. She just hoped she wasn’t making a mistake, because worse than not having Raelle as her girlfriend would be losing her entirely. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! So here’s the next chapter, sorry it was so late, it took longer than expected and then there was a death in the family and so I’ve been helping to take care of that. I am not totally happy with this chapter but hopefully you guys like it nonetheless. Enjoy!

“You have to bring this,” Tally insisted as she held up yet another shirt, “it goes with the black pants you packed and it’ll look cute.” She insisted. 

“Tal I can already barely close my damn suitcase,” Raelle sigh as she struggled to fit in her toiletries “I can’t bring too much either, I’m only gone like a week.” 

“This is the last thing and I promise you’ll need it at least once on the trip.” Tally had been that insistent on every single piece of clothing she had forced Raelle to pack, at this rate she’d be leaving with her entire closet. 

“I’m just going home for a few days-“

“With Scylla,” Tally interrupted “the same Scylla you’ve been hopelessly crushing on for months. Now’s your chance to win her over; that’ll be easier if her parents like you and making her parents like you will be easier if you look nice.”

“That’s easy for you to say Tally, all parents like you; you’re like bubbly and kind, I am a fumbling mess and sometimes my mouth moves too fast for my brain to realize whatever I’m saying is about to piss someone off.” Raelle took the shirt from tally anyway, packing it away in one of the only remaining spaces in her bag. To say she was anxious would be an understatement; sure this was just  pretend but if Scylla’s parents didn’t like her then what hope did she have of winning over Scylla for real? She felt like she had a lot riding on this.

“Raelle just be yourself.”

Raelle looked at Tally indignantly. “Be myself?” She questioned before narrowing her eyes at her friend. “How long did it take you to like me?”

Tally shrugged. “Mhm maybe two weeks.” She offered truthfully, she and Raelle didn’t have the greatest start but she came to love Raelle rather quickly.

“Abigail?”

“Yeah?” The returned voice was slightly muffled since she was in the next room.

“How long did it take you to like me?”

“Who says I do?”

Raelle sigh and turned back to Tally. “See? Be myself, what kind of advice is that? Oh goddess her parents are going to hate me.”

“Her parents aren’t going to hate you,” Tally insisted, “Abigail come tell Raelle Scylla’s parents are gonna like her.” She requested.

The sound of the chair being pushed back could be heard in the next room, followed by footsteps before Abigail appeared in the doorway. “Her parents are going to love you just don’t insult them or anything. Also don’t break one of their fancy plates or question their political beliefs; you know the easy stuff.” She spoke snidely.

Raelle sigh heavily as the alarm on her phone chimed. “I have to go or I’ll be late picking up Scylla.” She realized as she finally zipped the bag closed, hauling it off the bed and to the front door. “Say hi to your guys’ moms for me yeah?” She requested as she gave Tally a hug and rolled her eyes when Abigail made a big huff before giving her a hug as well.

“Will do shitbird, enjoy your Christmas with your girlfriend.”

Raelle shook her head slightly. “Bye guys.” She spoke as she grabbed her keys and left the apartment, making her way down to her car.

——

“Raelle should be here in a couple of minutes, she said she was picking me up at 8 but she’s always late.” Scylla remarked as she sat at her kitchen table across from Byron and ate cereal as he munched on cold pizza from the night before.

“So you’re all ready for this?”

Scylla shrugged. “I mean I guess so, not sure there’s much to be ready for; just make sure her parents don’t hate me right?”

Byron nodded in agreement. “Exactly, and just don’t say anything to offend her mom and you should be right as rain.” 

Their discussion was interrupted by Scylla’s phone chiming with a text from Raelle, informing her that she was downstairs waiting out front. “She’s never on time.” Scylla commented in slight annoyance as she ate as quickly as she could. “Dammit I didn’t brush my teeth.” She cursed as she dashed for the front door. 

“Use some mouth wash before you go I’ll grab your purse.” Byron assured as he ushered her into the bathroom and did what he said he would. “Oh,” he smirked as Scylla came out of the bathroom, handing her her bag “I put something extra in your suitcase in case you end up needing it.”

Scylla looked at him in confused horror. “Byron what did you put in there?” She asked as she zipped up her coat and took her belongings. 

“You’ll thank me for it later. Have a good time.” He grinned as he stepped out into the hall with her so she could lock up, even though he had a set of keys and would be looking in on her place. 

Scylla reached up to give Byron a hug, she was always appreciative of him even if he was often like an annoying brother. “I’ll let you know how it goes. Have a good holiday.” She smiled as she rushed down the stairs of the building, pausing for a second to catch her breath to look at least somewhat presentable when she made it out to Raelle’s car. 

“Hey,” Raelle greeted as she leant against the side of the car, pushing off with her foot that had been flat against the wheel hub as she reached out for Scylla’s suitcase “I’ll put this in the trunk for you.” She offered as she reached for the suitcase. 

Scylla blinked back to reality at the feel of Raelle’s hand on hers, having been distracted by the sight in front of her. Raelle was dressed in simple black jeans with the knees ripped, a black t-shirt was underneath a blue and black plaid shirt that she left open, her hair braided down the sides and several rings across her fingers. She was a bit (okay a lot) overwhelmed by how attractive she was; even in the simple outfit she was wearing. “Oh, uh thanks.” Scylla spoke as normally as possible as she opened the passenger side door and slide into the seat, glancing behind her briefly before raising a brow at Raelle as she opened the drivers door. “You cleaned the car.” She observed. 

Raelle laughed and nodded. “Yeah well my mom will get mad at me if it’s dirty, and besides I figured you deserved to sit in a car that didn’t have a semesters worth of take out containers.” 

“Wow you really know how to impress a girl.” Scylla teased. 

“Well I try, glad to know I’m successful.” Raelle did her best to keep her face neutral as she pulled out of the parking space and made her way towards the highway that would bring them in the direction of the Cession. “So it’s about a 3 hour drive home, I figured we could talk on the way and figure out some details we may not previously know about each other. Just so we don’t arouse any suspicion.” 

Scylla nodded and chewed her lip slightly. “What sort of things did you have in mind?” 

Raelle thrummed her fingers against the stealing wheel. “I mean, I know we know some stuff about one another but if we’re suppose to be dating maybe we’d have talk about more things, or even just like what kind of things are we comfortable doing when we’re together?”

Scylla shifted in her seat, facing Raelle who kept her eyes on the road. “Well I have only had a few relationships, only one of which was longer than four months but in my experience most physical contact has been established, assuming one is comfortable with public displays of affection. I guess the big question becomes whether or not we’ve had sex yet.”

“What?!” Raelle questioned in somewhat of a whelp as she turned to face Scylla only to whip back towards the road at the sound of a car horn and veer back into her lane that she had drifted from ever so slightly. 

Once they were once against on the straight away, no traffic insight, Scylla let out the smallest of chuckles, not wanting to offend Raelle too much. “So that’s a no on us having had sex.” She teased. 

Raelle sputtered a bit, coughing in an attempt to gain some composure. “I uh- it’s only four months I think it’s safe to say that’d be a no.”

Scylla nodded in understanding. “Alright fine, no sex, what are you comfortable with in front of your family, like from a touchy-feely perspective?” She questioned. 

The rest of the car ride was spent ironing out the details of their would be fake relationships. How they started dating, where they went on their first date, who cooks, who surprises the other more. They tried to spread things out relatively evenly, and as they were already close friends, it didn’t take long for them to make the decisions. Raelle has asked Scylla out first, but Scylla was the bigger planner in ways of date nights and so on. Scylla also decided that she would have kissed Raelle first, a fact that Scylla came to the decision on so quickly, it had Raelle wondering if she hadn’t thought of it before. They had stumbled onto more casual conversation, working to fill in the gaps of what few things they didn’t know about each other when Raelle pulled into her family drive way. 

“So uh, this is it.” She stated awkwardly as she turned off the car and pulled the keys from the ignition. She knew it wasn’t much, most of the houses in the Cession were of less than affluent families and the Collar family home was ramshackle at best, but it was still home and Raelle wouldn’t change a thing about it. Except maybe her room, which her mother had painted pink as a child and Raelle had never bothered to repaint because her mom had gone to great lengths to find a paint that 6 year old Raelle would love. 

“It looks homey, I like the lights.” Scylla assured as she took in the structure, that was of course covered in festive coloured lights. 

Raelle felt her shoulders relax at Scylla’s reaction as she got out of the car and went to get their bags. “Well dad’s a civilian so we embrace the lights and presents, though mom still reminds us that we celebrate Yule, not Christmas.”

Scylla smiled warmly, she knew Raelle’s father wasn’t a witch and that was uncommon to say the least, though it never seemed to hold Raelle back in any of their practical applications. “Do you guys do the whole twelve days or just the one?” Each family was different but Scylla realized of all the things they had discussed on their way up, she didn’t really know what to expect. 

“Just the one, mom always said the twelve was just too much work,” Raelle explained as she grabbed the suitcases from the trunk, looking up when she heard the door open. “Hi pops.” Raelle greeted as she shut the trunk and motioned to Scylla to follow her up the steps. She smiled as her dad took the bags and placed them inside the door before he wrapped his arms around his daughter. 

Raelle returned the hug, relaxing into the the embrace. “I’ve missed you too dad.” As she pulled back, Raelle stepped back, bringing Scylla forward. “Dad this is Scylla, Scylla this is my dad.” She introduced. 

“It’s so nice to meet you Mr. Collar,” Scylla held her hand out for him to shake, hoping her nervousness didn’t manifest in sweaty palms. 

Edwin ignored the hand and pulled Scylla into a welcoming hug. “Oh please call me Ed. It’s so good to finally meet you,” he declared as he pulled back, “Raelle has told me so much about you.” 

Scylla glanced over at Raelle as she pulled back from the hug to see her blushing slightly. “Good things I hope.” 

“Only ever good things.” Raelle assured as they were soon ushered into the house by Edwin. “Is mom still at work?” Raelle knew her mother often worked until the very last minute so as to be able to take time off during the holidays. 

Edwin shook his head in the negative. “She called a while ago saying she was picking up dinner on her way home, I figure she’ll be home soon. . . Ah speak of the devil.” He joked as the sound of a car pulling into his drive way caught his attention. 

“Raelle you’re here early!” Willa’s voice was cheerful as it entered the home, causing Raelle to smile widely and take a few strides to be able to hug her mother. “Oh I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too mom. So uh she’s already met dad but this is my girlfriend Scylla.” Raelle had to stop herself from looking too obvious about how easily that title slipped from her lips. Thankfully her parents wouldn’t likely notice. 

“Oh Scylla it’s so nice to finally meet you, Raelle has said so much about you and it’s nice to put a face to the name. I really thought kids these days all has social media-“

“Mom!” Raelle cut her off incredulously, “okay I’m going to show Scylla the room, in the future would you stop stalking my friends?”

“I can’t make any promises dear but you two go settle in and I’ll start dinner.” 

Raelle sigh as she picked up both her and Scylla’s suitcases and carried them upstairs, making sure Scylla was following her. “So this is my bedroom,” Raelle spoke as she pushed open the door, the walls were pink, various insundry posters and awards from her youth still decorated the walls “the bed is yours, I just need to empty out a few drawers for you.” She explained as she let Scylla look around the room. 

“Where are you going to sleep?” Scylla asked when told the bed was hers. 

“I’ll be on the couch in the TV room it’s-“

“You can always sleep with me.” Scylla offered before she froze and stared at Raelle who was in a similar position at the words, realizing how they sounded Scylla cleared her throat. “I mean uh the bed is clearly big enough for two, no sense in you sleeping on the couch.”

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t mind sleeping on the couch it’s . . . It’s comfortable.” 

Scylla raised an eyebrow at her statement, looking at her curiously. “Well how’s this, sleep in the bed with me tonight and if it’s truly terrible and uncomfortable you can move to the couch.” She offered. 

Raelle laughed gently and nodded at her words. “Okay that sounds like a good plan to me, I have a hard time believing I’d ever be uncomfortable around you though.”

Scylla looked to Raelle, catching her eyes and holding her gaze for several moments. She could feel her heart pounding against her ribs and the blood rushing in her ears. She had spent many long hours agonizing over how beautiful Raelle was but never had she done so this intimately, without the buffer of an ongoing lecture or study group keeping her grounded. Just her and Raelle, alone, together in her childhood bedroom. “I-“

“Girls dinner is ready!” Scylla was positive she had never been more annoyed by any interruption in her life, not even the time an over enthusiastic lab partner broke her concentration while perfecting a seed.

“Coming mom!” Raelle hollered back before meeting Scylla’s gaze again. “Were you wanting to say something?” 

Scylla smiled and shook her head. “It’s not important, let’s go have dinner.” She smiled as she left the room first, ignoring the internal conflict of not telling Raelle the truth.

They made it down to dinner, Scylla taking a seat next to Raelle so that she wasn’t sitting somewhere she wasn’t suppose to, leaving the heads of the table to Willa and Edwin. The food was placed in the middle of the table family style, and soon enough they were all eating together.

“So Scylla, what is your classification?” Willa asked between bites of food, looking expectantly at the younger woman.

“Necro.”

Willa nodded in understanding. “And your speciality?”

“I’m taking a few different class types right now, so far I’m really interested in understanding mycelium and it’s properties.”

“Oh that must be fascinating, I had a few classmates in college who were Necro, though I’m sure many things we understand about the complementarity of life and death have changed since my day. Are you enjoying it?”

“I am, it’s really rather interesting, I’m not sure what I want to do with it all yet but I’ve been taking a range of classes.”

Raelle hoped no one caught her staring, or if they did that her parents would chalk it up to them dating and this being totally normal. “Scylla is brilliant, if it weren’t for her I likely would have flunked out of Herbology by now.”

“Well then she seems like the right girl to have around.” Edwin commented lightheartedly.

“I think so.” Raelle smiled, catching Scylla’s gaze, getting lost for a moment in the blue of her eyes. She hoped she got the nerve to tell the other girl that she didn’t want anything to be fake with her, her feelings weren’t fake, nor was her intrigue with Scylla as a person. She still had a week and Raelle was determined to tell Scylla the truth by then.

The rest of dinner past uneventfully, the family going on to discuss various topics, some of which meant that Raelle and Scylla’s carefully crafted story wasn’t unnecessary after all. 

“Thank you for dinner, it was delicious.” Scylla complimented as she helped Raelle’s mother clear the table, making sure all the dishes were cleared before she began washing them.

“You don’t have to do that dear.” Willa spoke as Scylla stacked the plates in the dish washer.

“It only seems fair since you cooked such a lovely meal that you don’t also have to clean up from it.”

Willa smiled brightly. “I like her.” She told Raelle who had brought over one of the casserole dishes to put in the fridge.

“Me too.” Raelle responded with a smile as she finished putting the food away. “Mom you must be tired,” Raelle observed, knowing full well her mother had been working longer hours in preparation for the time off, “Scylla and I will finish cleaning up you and dad can go get ready for bed.”

Willa knew there’d be no segueing with Raelle, they often did butt heads with one another but Willa knew it was because Raelle worried about her. “Alright, well don’t you two go to bed too late.” Willa requested as she kissed Raelle’s temple on her way by.

“We won’t mom, promise.” Raelle assured her.

The ‘goodnights’ were exchanged and Scylla and Raelle were soon left downstairs alone, and it wasn’t long after that Raelle was closing and starting the dishwasher. “We only got a dish washer like three years ago, it’s almost strange how much I love an appliance.”

Scylla laughed warmly, surprising herself at how relaxed she felt with Raelle. “I actually don’t mind washing dishes just don’t make me vacuum I absolutely hate it, I don’t know why I just do.”

“No vacuuming got it.” Raelle acknowledged, smiling at Scylla when she yawned. “Do you want to go to sleep?”

“It’s so early-.” Scylla mumbled through the yawn as she covered her mouth sheepishly.

“It’s late enough to be an acceptable bedtime. I’m tired too, I love driving but I am also welcoming of the concept of it being bedtime.”

Scylla smiled thankfully and they soon made it up to bed, Scylla going into the bedroom to change as Raelle excused herself to the bathroom. Once she was dressed in pyjamas she made her way down the hall, knitting her brows at the sound of music coming from down the hall. The grin that split her face was instantaneous, Raelle was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and dancing along to the music, eyes closed and clearly just totally in her element.

The grin grew into a full on smile as she watched Raelle, watching her for a few more moments before knocking on the door frame to catch Raelle’s attention, feeling bad when the blonde whipped around, her cheeks soon turning red in embarrassment, the toothbrush still hanging from her mouth. “Shit.” Raelle mumbled as she pulled the brush from her mouth, she then swallowed, cringing as she remembered she had a mouthful of toothpaste and Scylla drowned in disgust at a similar realization.

“I just needed to use the sink.” She spoke apologetically. 

“Uh yeah, right of course.” Raelle assured as she turned off the music and quickly finished rinsing her tooth brush and mouth. “Exactly how long were you standing there?”

Scylla smirked a bit “not too long, just long enough to know you’re a very good dancer.”

Raelle groaned playfully as she stepped towards Scylla to pass by her. “You’re so mean.” She joked playfully.

“I know.” The tone was teasing and Raelle watched her for a moment before leaving down the hallway to the bedroom. Scylla returned not long afterwards, and as soon as she had returned Raelle’s father stopped by the room.

“Goodnight you two.” Edwin smiled as he stepped just inside the door.

“Night dad.” Raelle smiled.

“Night Ed.” Scylla returned, feeling less awkward at saying his name when Edwin offered her a kind smile as a result.

“Now I don’t want any funny business okay? Your mom and I-“

“Oh my goddess dad! Goodnight.” Raelle spoke horrified as she stepped forward and closed the door on him, sighing when she heard him laugh through the door. “Sorry about that.” She mumbled as she turned to Scylla.

“It’s okay.” Scylla assured as she glanced between Raelle and the bed, trying not to focus too much on the skin of Raelle’s legs that was exposed from her sleep shorts. “Do you have a side of the bed you normally sleep on?”

“I uh normally sleep closest to the door but if that’s your side I don’t mind.”

“No no that’s fine,” Scylla assured, “I like the side furthest from the door anyway.”

Raelle wasn’t sure if Scylla was telling the truth or not but she smiled warmly anyway, moving to her side of the bed as she noticed Scylla do the same. Once under the covers, Raelle closed the light for the room, shifting awkwardly. “Well uh, sleep well.”

“You too.” Scylla responded, the two of them getting as comfortable as they can, though eventually they did drift off to sleep. 


End file.
